Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1887-07-29
THE PADRE MIME.
Its Supposed Location Discovered Neal
the Organ Mountains.

4
AT the base of the Organ mountains,
$50 feet down the Bennett mine shaft,
workmen in driving q drift along the
ore vein some time ago discovered n
wonderful cave, n description of which,
from the Rio Grande Republican. i
substantially rs follows: 4 narrow pas
sage leads downward from the shaft.
! through which the visitors gambler. but
the wonderful and beautiful creations OF
nature which meet his vision afte. de-
scending TO the depths below amply re.
pay for the trouble. FolloW:nG the guide,
and holding for protection the cable
which has been stretched from the open
inc in the drift 10 the farthcst portion of
these grand cayerns. the visitor GOES
downward through Il slanting passage
widening rs he proceeds and ending IN
4 large chamb, :. only one Of several
connected together Here, iy the dim
light afforded by candles. appear the
first OF the intricate network OF lime for.
nations, which invariably cause those
who have been so fortunate rs to view
them TO eXclaim with wonder and de.
light. On every hand the walls arc
frosted over with the most delicate work
of nature, on one side Of a dazzling
whiteness and on another tinted with a
delicate pink or green where the miner.
al from the vein has aided in making
beautiful effect.
Springing up from the floor or jutting
out from the wall are the same curious
formations which have assumed the
shapes of trees, shrubbery, ferns, and
grasses, rs if they were al coated over
with ice and snow. and it is easy to
imagine being in frozen dell. Gas.
cades, with the very spray frozen, that
tumble down from the walls help TO fill
out the picture. Miniature groves. with
branches INTERVENING, are punched to-
gethor eight or ten feet high, all Of
the same virgin whitCncsS. or tinted
with the most beautiful colors. Coral
growing in the sea could not be more
beautiful, and it resembles on a Grand
scale nothing so much as the 'trce' that
Is formed by suspcnding piece of zinc
m solution OF lead. They DO not form
rs in other caves where a stalatite hangs
down, formed by the dripping Of the
roof and stalagmite rises up from tha
fioor TO meet it where the drop strikos
IT, but the formation is one of crystal.
ization.
At the farthcst end Of these wonder
full underground chambers 4he visitor is
800 feet from the bottom shaft. and has
descended ut an angle Of forty-fve de-
grees, which makes $40 feet from the
surface. 1t is not thought that all the
cavcrne have been visited, rs creyices
through which q man can not pass are
found, and they may connect with other
rooms equally magnificent. In fact. one
passage that leads TO the grandest cham
Der had to be opened with a blast of
giant powder:
Ii easy of access, the cavern would be-
come a popular place of resort, but the
doom of all this splendor i not far in
the future, and TO see it in It's glory they
must be visited soon. The benefits that
accrue to the mine by these openings
must be seen TO be appreciated. Ii the .
hand of man bad followed them out it
could not have better aided in the work. (
ing OF the mine and indeed il is a ques-
ton if il is not the work OF human agcn-
cy. The startling question is prcpound- .
ed Can IL be the lost Padre mine? Ii
has been suggested. not without reason.
for not only does tic cave occupy the
place in the contact whore the mineral
usually lies, but in several places. de
rectly in the ends of it. are bodies of ore
just as If the workmcn had lett them.
1t may be suggested that the formation
Of limestone would not have accumula-
ted, bu, il has been more than two hum
dred years since, as ciaimcll by the le-
gcnd, the Padre mine was closed w by
The Infatuated natives, and limestone
crystaiiza'ions are quickly deposited.
What was called the shaft dcsconds
rom one OF the upper levels straight
down to the depth OF seventy feet, con-
nccting with the lower openings, and
adding another presumption - the
heory.